


Lust in Me

by LighthouseHunter101



Category: The Sentinel
Genre: Rating: M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-22
Updated: 2015-05-22
Packaged: 2018-03-31 18:16:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3987958
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LighthouseHunter101/pseuds/LighthouseHunter101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post TSbyBS whereby Blair is now a detective.  Jim receives some unwanted attention from a 'secret admirer'.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lust in Me

**Author's Note:**

> NB. There are scenes of a sexual nature in this story and some bad language.

Jim Ellison sat at his desk in the Bullpen of Major Crimes. His detective partner was due in later after he had been for a check-up at the dentists.

Rhonda walked over to Jim's desk, a huge conspiratorial smile on her face. 

"This has arrived for you, Jim," she said with a mischievous tone in her voice.

Jim looked up to see her proffering a pink envelope at him. 

"Thanks, Rhonda," he said taking the envelope and putting it down on his desk, as his attention went back to the report he was working on. 

"Aren't you going to open it?" she asked obviously intrigued by the envelope and with no intention of moving away from his desk until he did. 

Jim was puzzled as to why one envelope was initiating so much interest, even though it was somewhat unusual to receive a pink envelope at work.

"Yeah, of course, when I get round to it." 

"Jim, it's Valentine's Day. Someone's sent you a Valentine's Card. You've got a secret admirer."

Now Jim was feeling embarrassed. Who would send him a Valentine's Card to the Bullpen? 

With a sigh, and knowing he wouldn't get any peace until he did, Jim picked up the envelope and opened it. As he took the card out hundred of little red confetti hearts fell out of the envelope all over his desk and into his lap. Jim groaned. Could this get any worse? 

The front of the card depicted a huge red heart and the words 'Be My Valentine' at the top. Inside were hand written the words "Will you be mine? Your Secret Admirer".

"Happy now?" he asked Rhonda as he put the card aside.

"Who's it from?" she asked nosily.

"I have no idea, and I don't really care. I have work to do," he added not caring if he sounded a bit off hand. 

Rhonda knew she had been dismissed and moved back to her desk knowing when not to push the sometimes volatile detective. Jim got back to his report, the Valentine's card forgotten.

Just before 11am Blair breezed into the Bullpen with a dozen red roses in his arms. Jim looked up incredulous.

"These are for you?" Blair said as he handed over the flowers.

"Tell me these aren't from you and you didn't send the Valentine's card?" Jim asked not knowing whether to feel embarrassed or worried.

"What Valentine's card?" the detective replied puzzled. "No, the flowers are not from me, you dufus. I was in reception when the flowers arrived and I said I'd bring them up to you. Now who would send you flowers and a Valentine's card on Valentine's Day?"

"I don't know but I wish they hadn't," Jim replied grimacing as he noticed the little red confetti hearts all over the floor round his desk. He felt a sneeze building up in his nose. God he hated flowers. And even more he hated flowers at work. Jim sneezed. Jim sneezed again.

With a smile Blair took the flowers off his partner and took them to the break room, to put them in water and looking for a card on them as he went. Unusually there was no card with the flowers.

Blair returned to the Bullpen with two cups of coffee to see Jim talking to Rhonda at her desk. He heard Jim was asking Simon's secretary to take the flowers home with her. Rhonda was insistent that Jim enjoy the flowers.

When Jim was back at his desk Blair said to his partner. "You should be flattered that a woman sends a man flowers. This is the age of equality after all." 

"I don't even know who they're off, Chief. If someone can't even be bothered to tell me who they are, then I can't be bothered to accept the flowers."

"It's all about mystery, Jim. Valentine's Day is for some people the day they can approach someone they like but are possibly too shy to approach them normally. I'm sure she'll get in touch with you in her own time."

"Okay, but you're carrying the flowers to the loft."

Blair smiled, "No problem, partner," he replied.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

That evening back at the loft, the roses were in a vase in the centre of the table. Jim and Blair were pottering around the kitchen cooking their evening meal and enjoying a beer. Jim's cellphone rang interrupting the stirring of the cheese sauce for the lasagne they were putting together.

"Ellison," Jim said succinctly. There was silence on the other end. "Hello. Is anyone there?" Jim asked. There continued to be silence. Using his Sentinel senses, Jim listened to the background but he couldn't discern anything other than faint breathing. Then the line went dead.

"Who was that?" Blair asked.

"No one spoke," Jim replied.

"Probably a wrong number," Blair responded. "Don't you hate it when people do that? Too rude to say they are sorry for disturbing you and just hang up."

"Yeah," Jim replied thoughtfully. With the card and roses, and now a phone call, Jim was beginning to wonder something more suspicious was going on. Then he dismissed the notion, he'd been a detective too long and was reading too much into it; it was simply nothing more than a wrong number and an incredibly rude person. 

Jim pushed it aside and went back to the lasagne's cheese sauce.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Next morning Jim and Blair walked into the Bullpen. There was a large box of chocolates on Jim's desk. The note on top said 'Even though you're already sweet enough. Will you be mine? Your Secret Admirer'. Jim picked up the chocolates and looked round the Bullpen.

"Did anyone see who put these on my desk?" but there were blank looks, it looked like no one had. 

Scowling Jim threw the box straight into the bin. Now it was starting to get annoying. Blair was looking at his partner with an amused look on his face. 

"Come on, Jim, lighten up," Blair said. "There's probably some gorgeous blonde, no red head, in this building trying to pick up the courage to come and speak to you."

"Well I wish she'd hurry up, because all this cloak and dagger is royally pissing me off. She is not endearing herself to me here, Chief. And if anyone knows who she is," Jim said looking round the Bullpen. "Tell her to back off." There was silence in Major Crimes as the other detectives didn't know what to say or do. "We've got work to do," Jim added walking to the door without waiting for his partner.

Blair quickly followed his friend, only catching up to him when Jim had to wait for the elevator car.

"What crawled up your ass?" Blair asked.

"Nothing!" Jim snapped, then softened immediately, he didn't want to take it out on his partner. "Sorry, Chief. I've just got a bad feeling about all this that's all."

"What a tingly feeling like your spider-sense going off."

"I'm a Sentinel not Spiderman, Chief," Jim said indignantly as he walked into the empty elevator through the now open elevator doors. 

"No, you're not but you've got incredible instincts to go with your senses," Blair whispered. "You need to utilise them more. Not to mention the events with the spirit animals at the fountain."

"Don't mention it, please." It was too painful to even think about even now months later, fishing a non-breathing and drowned Blair out of the fountain at Rainier had been one of the worst moments of the Sentinel's life. 

Blair nodded acknowledging the fact that he knew how much the incident at the fountain still upset his partner.

"There's something squirrelly about this woman. Why doesn't she just phone or e-mail me or something? Say hi, my name's Sharon or whatever and ask me out for a drink or something. This almost feels like I'm being stalked by an unknown assailant."

"I hardly think that a Valentine's card, flowers and chocolates constitutes being stalked by an unknown assailant," Blair replied.

"What about the phone call last night?"

"That was a wrong number."

"Was it?"

"I think you're seeing too much into this."

"Maybe I am," Jim admitted. They were on the clock so he put away all thoughts of cards, flowers and chocolates and concentrated on police work.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Jim and Blair drove to a small private airfield on the outskirts of Cascade. The largest planes the airport handled were Cessna's and light planes where parachutists jumped out of planes for fun. Blair had never gotten over that crazy parachute jump over Peru when they were searching for Simon and Daryl. It had possibly been the worst landing of his life. He vowed after that experience never to jump out an aeroplane ever again. Now they were investigating the death of a parachutist. His parachute and back-up chute had failed when he had jumped out of the plane and he had fallen to his death. Bryant Parks was twenty-six and his parents insisted their son had everything to live for and had been murdered. 

Jim and Blair had examined the parachute and indeed the lines had been cut through, probably with a knife. They had to decide whether it was a case of suicide or murder. It seemed inconceivable that anyone would cut the lines to their own parachute before jumping from a plane. But Blair had done research on the internet and quickly discovered several instances where that very thing had been determined. Parks had money worries, he was several thousand dollars in debt and his girlfriend of five years had just dumped him for another sky diver. Parks was at a low point and maybe it had seemed his way of ending it all. It was looking like suicide but it was Jim and Blair's job to investigate and cover all angles before determining an outcome.

They spoke to several people at the airfield and the contact details of other people who had been present on the day of the death. Several had seen the young man falling from the sky to his death, but they hadn't heard any screams. It had been a harrowing thing to witness. That sort of thing stayed with you for a long time. 

It took them most of the day following up and talking to witnesses and anyone who had seen the incident. 

Jim forgot all about his secret admirer as he concentrated on Police work. 

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Next morning, Jim and Blair arrived at the Bullpen early wanting to type up their notes so far on the Bryant Parks investigation. He had no enemies they could find, everyone seemed to like him and he was amiable and was a decent average guy. He had seemed depressed and distant the last few weeks of his life. Several witnesses weren't surprised he had taken his own life. So far it was still looking like suicide. 

Jim picked up a file and groaned as he found a pink envelope underneath. He knew it was from his 'secret admirer'. Jim opened the envelope with a scowl wondering what she wanted this time. Jim felt himself getting redder as he read the contents of the letter. Lines like 'want to feel you inside me', 'be your sex slave if you want me to be', 'fuck me into next week'.

"You okay, man?" Blair asked seeing his friend was blushing.

Jim handed over the note. Blair's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline. 

"She certainly doesn't pull any punches does she," Blair replied, taking it more seriously this time. The other things on Valentine's Day he had considered fun and all part of the mystique of the day. But this, this was another level; this was starting to cross the line and become serious. 

Jim was scrutinising every woman in the Bullpen or who walked past outside. Was it her or her? If only she would come forward, so Jim could set her straight and tell her he wasn't interested. This was all fantasy and wasn't healthy.

"Can you smell anything on the letter or envelope?" Blair asked.

Jim used his Sentinel abilities but couldn't detect anything untoward, no perfume or any other odours. 

"No, nothing." 

"We can't do much unless she does anything threatening," Blair voiced knowing they couldn't ask for a DNA check or anything, as so far all she had done was annoy Jim with gifts. 

"Then I slap a restraining order on her," Jim returned.

"Whoa, Jim, she probably doesn't realise what she's doing. It's known that the thrill of the chase for some can spur them on to do rash and impulsive things. They can become over enthusiastic."

"I'd like to know if she were on the receiving end how she liked all this attention. The letter alone makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. That's no shy debutante; she wants my body, Chief."

"You should be so lucky!" Blair replied half smiling.

"It ceased to be fun with that letter, Chief."

"I know, Jim," Blair replied seriously, then couldn't help adding. "I'll back you up like always. I'll make sure you're not alone with any nubile women in case they want to rip your clothes off." 

"Laugh it up, Sandburg, it's real funny."

"No, I'm taking it seriously, Jim, I just don't want you to get all…"

"What, Chief? Caveman, primitive."

"I was going to say upset and worried."

"I get the idea."

"You know I'll back you up, man."

And Jim was strangely reassured by that fact. 

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

When they returned to Prospect that evening, a red heart cushion was leaning against the door of the loft. In the centre of the cushion was embroidered the words 'be mine'.

All Jim could think was she knew where he lived. At least she hadn't entered the loft. Or had she? As Jim unlocked the door to apartment 307, he drew his gun. Blair thought his partner was being over dramatic. If someone was in the loft the Sentinel's senses would have detected them by now. Mind you this woman had gotten his partner so worked up that Blair wasn't sure if he could even remember he had heightened senses at the moment. 

Jim did a sensory sweep of the loft and was satisfied that no one had been in the apartment since they had left that morning. Jim looked tense as he made sure the safety was on and placed his gun in the kitchen drawer, where he kept it overnight. Blair's gun had already been placed in the same drawer. Jim never failed to be amazed that there were now two guns in the drawer. Ever since Blair had entered the academy, and finished the training his four years riding with Jim had started, Jim still often thought it was all still a dream. 

The dissertation fiasco had soon become yesterday's news as the journalists moved on to more sensational and news worthy stories. Blair, so far, had not had any repercussions from being labelled a fraud. His police work, especially when having to testify in court, might prove to be a problem; but so far they had encountered none. Blair's paperwork was always meticulous there would be no problems that end. They decided to cross that particular bridge should it ever occur. 

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Next day, they were checking out the scene of a grizzly murder. A security guard had found the mutilated body of a young woman in an alley behind a derelict cinema. Dan Wolfe had attended the scene and his initial findings were that she had been pregnant and someone had cut the baby out of her. The fact that the baby wasn't at the location meant that whoever had perpetrated the crime had taken the baby, alive or dead, for their own means. 

The scene had been horrendous; the victim's blood had soaked the pavement. She had suffered terribly in her final moments. Gagged with her hands tied behind her back, her legs spread-eagled and tied apart; she'd been unable to move or cry out as her baby was cut out of her. Then she had been left to die, alone and in agony.

Jim and Blair were at a local restaurant before heading back to the precinct. Blair found that even though he had only been a detective for a few months his stomach was adapting. He still didn't like witnessing such needless and appalling deaths, and knew he never would. He also knew that Jim would tell him that if he ever did it would be time to get out of Police work. He no longer flinched from witnessing such horror but could be efficient and professional. He also found that afterwards, like now, he still kept his appetite. He was feeling peckish as Jim parked the blue and white Ford outside a deli. They were crossing the street to the building when Blair's cellphone cheeped.

"Detective Sandburg," he said on pressing the accept button. He listened for a few seconds. "Oh no. How is he?"

Jim could tell it was bad news from the tone of Blair's voice. Unashamedly the Sentinel listened in to what the caller was saying.

"He's doing okay, shocked I think at the moment. The doctors give him a twenty-five percent chance of surviving a year. The cancer is already too advanced."

"Oh, Lester, I'm so sorry. If there's anything I can do to help," Blair said sympathetically. 

"Thanks, Blair, I appreciate it. Listen I got to go, I'll call you again soon and let you know how Todd's doing okay?"

"Yeah, thanks, Lester. Bye."

The connection severed and Blair looked stunned as he lowered the phone from his ear.

"You okay, Chief?" Jim asked concernedly.

"Yeah, fine, just had a shock that's all."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Blair turned two distressed eyes onto his partner.

"Lester, someone I know through Rainier, his brother Todd's got bowel cancer. It's already too advanced, it's not looking good. Todd's only twenty-three. I taught him for a semester at Rainier. How can someone so young be told, when they have everything to live for, that their life is going to be cut short. I don't understand the universe sometimes."

"It's tough, Chief. Like that young pregnant woman, her life was taken from her too soon."

"But we can do something about that, we can catch the person who did it to her. Todd's got no recourse, man, only a death sentence."

"Oh, Chief, I know it's hard. You know I'm here for you." 

Jim reached for his partner and gave him a hug of comfort, letting him know that he was there for him. Death, no matter how it happened, was hard for anyone to understand and cope with.

"Thanks, Jim."

"You're welcome, partner," Jim replied. With his right arm still around Blair's shoulder, Jim steered his partner towards the deli. "Let's get some lunch, Chief."

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Back at the precinct Jim and Blair were looking into their murder victim's life. Lisa Adams was only twenty. They were going to interview the mother shortly. Linda Adams was under a doctor's care after having collapsed at the news of her daughter's murder. She was very fragile at the moment but they needed details of her daughter's movements the past few days. Did she have a boyfriend? What friends did she have? A large percentage of victims knew their attackers. 

Blair was checking his e-mails when he came across one with the subject of 'BEWARE'. There was no attachment, the detective opened it and gasped.

"What the!" he exclaimed as he read the e-mail.

"What is it, Chief?" Jim asked from his adjacent desk.

"This e-mail," Blair replied. Jim leaned over Blair's shoulder to read the message on Blair's PC's screen.

To: blair.sandburg@caspd.net

From: lovebug@casco.us

Subject: BEWARE

Detective Sandburg stay away from Detective Ellison or else. He's mine!!!

"Who would send me such a strange message," Blair said still a bit shocked. "How can anyone expect me to stay away from you, we live together and you're my partner."

"My stalker," Jim replied quickly putting the pieces of the puzzle together. "She saw me give you a hug outside the deli and got jealous."

Blair was going over the evidence and was beginning to think his friend was right. 

"That means she's watching you," Blair stated.

Jim didn't like the 'or else' part of the e-mail. That was a threat against a Police officer.

"We've got to be on alert, Chief," Jim said. "This is escalating way too fast."

"I'll forward my e-mail to our IT guys to see if they can trace it," Blair responded as he clicked the forward button.

"We've got to leave in a few minutes to go talk to Lisa Adam's mother," Jim added as he checked his watch. The stalker would have to wait they had a murderer to catch first.

Talking to Linda Adams was an ordeal. The woman was beyond distraught. She sat on her overstuffed couch, looking drained and pale. She was outwardly calm, obviously from the drugs the doctor had given to her, but she was in floods of tears. She told Jim and Blair that Lisa was a good girl; her boyfriend was in gaol, doing five to ten for armed robbery. Lisa was scared about having the baby on her own.

"Well she was," Linda Adams said and started to cry even harder. "She'd have made a good mother," she added. 

"When was Lisa due?" Blair asked gently.

"In three days."

"So the baby was nearly full term," Blair said out loud, obviously the perpetrator knew this and wanted a full grown baby.

"Mrs Adams, do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Lisa?" Jim asked.

"No, I don't know who would want to kill Lisa or her unborn baby," Linda replied thoughtfully.

"Didn't they tell you?" Blair asked. "I thought the officers who…" Blair looked at Jim nervously who was looking at him with the same alarm.

"Tell me what, Detective?" she asked as she first looked at Blair and then at Jim. There was something about the look on their faces.

"They only found Lisa at the scene. The baby was taken, cut out of her."

Linda Adams grew even paler, her eyes getting impossibly big as she digested the news. Then she fainted.

"Oh, great," Blair muttered as he leapt forward to stop her from falling onto the floor. Jim raised her feet and checked her over. She was breathing okay; she'd just had a huge shock.

"Why didn't the original officers tell her?" Blair asked.

"Someone screwed up," Jim replied as he called in the situation. An ambulance was dispatched for the traumatised mother.

It was late afternoon by the time the EMTs had checked Linda Adams out. She hadn't needed to go to hospital but was told to take it easy. They continued their interview but only had a handful of more questions. Mrs Adams did give them a possible lead when she told them that her daughter had met a woman on the internet recently who was also a single mother. They had been e-mailing each other constantly. They hadn't met yet but they had seemed to have clicked very quickly. Before they left, Blair gave Mrs Adams his card and told her to call him anytime if she had any more information no matter how trivial it might sound.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Jim and Blair walked into Major Crimes the next morning. Jim's eyes were immediately drawn to a box on his desk with a huge red bow on top. Jim and Blair were early so there were few people in the Bullpen. 

"What is it?" Blair asked as he saw Jim scrutinising the box.

"A gift from my admirer I presume," Jim replied.

Jim, ever the detective, donned some latex gloves in case the gift was required for evidence later and then pulled on the bow.

"Maybe you shouldn't open it," Blair advised.

"It's aftershave," Jim replied reassuring Blair that it wasn't dangerous. 

Blair knew his partner had used his incredible senses to detect the contents of the box. Jim moved aside the tissue paper inside the box and retrieved the bottle seeing that it was 'Marc Jacobs for Men' by Marc Jacobs. 

"Expensive," Blair observed. "She must really like you."

Jim put the bottle back in the box and moved it aside. Jim stared at the box thinking that someone who bought something that expensive more than likely used a credit card or if they used cash it would hopefully still be memorable to a cashier. It was time to hit the streets. They had other cases to investigate as well, including two deaths, but Jim wanted the stalker out of his life, the sooner he did that, the sooner he could get on with his job and his life. 

Jim switched on his computer and Googled Cascade shops that sold expensive perfume and aftershave. Then he printed the extensive list off.

"Hello, Jim," came a female voice. 

Jim looked up from his desk and saw Kelly Conley from Admin smiling sweetly at him; her doe eyes were hard to miss. She was wearing a very short black mini skirt and clutching some manila folders in her hands.

"Uh…Kelly," the detective replied reaching inside his memory for her name, and being a little preoccupied with recent events to really be on civil terms with people. He immediately turned back to his work. 

"How are you, Jim?" she asked but the detective didn't seem to hear.

Blair was watching Kelly with his detective eyes. Kelly had often come into the Bullpen on various admin duties but he had seen the way she looked at his partner. She definitely had a crush on his partner. Jim couldn't see it, he often ignored the most blaringly obvious situation and Blair knew why his friend blatantly rebuffed Kelly's advances without a second thought. Kelly was only twenty-three. Jim would never look twice at someone so young. The young admin worker definitely had eyes for his partner.

Jim looked up at the woman who was still stood by his desk waiting for a reply and watching him hopefully.

"Did you send me the flowers and the other stuff?" Jim suddenly asked forcefully standing up behind his desk.

Kelly took a step back from Jim's desk startled by his unexpected standing up. Jim's height and physique was enough to intimidate the most hardened of criminal let alone this slip of a girl. She dropped her files and looked to be on the verge of tears. She immediately bent down to retrieve the pieces of paper that had slipped out of them.

"I…" Kelly began looking over at Blair and then back at Jim. She suddenly burst into tears and ran out of the Bullpen.

Jim watched her leave and shook his head, she wasn't his stalker.

"Chief, we're out of here," Jim said moving from behind his desk. 

"Where are we going?" Blair asked still reeling from seeing the distraught Kelly running from the office in tears.

"To find a stalker," Jim replied solemnly his long legs carrying him quickly to the door of the Bullpen. 

Blair followed behind a moment later, he didn't think that Kelly could be the stalker, she was a young kid with a crush, but it was definitely a possible line of enquiry if all others dried up.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Numerous department stores and shops later and the detectives discovered a bottle of that brand of aftershave had been sold two days before Valentine's Day. The timing was right and Jim's gut was telling him they were onto something. The cashier found a credit card receipt to a Jayne Billinton. 

"That name sound familiar," Jim said as they made their way back to his truck.

"That's because it is," Blair replied. "Jayne Billinton works in Narcotics."

"Do you know every woman who works at the PD, Chief?"

"Not all of them, but most of them," Blair replied smiling broadly.

The detectives returned to the precinct and went straight to Narcotics where they found Jayne at her desk typing. They asked her to accompany them for a chat; she had no idea what was going on but was willing to accommodate them. Jim was amazed that he detected no increase in heartbeat or respiration from the young woman. She was possibly good at masking her emotions.

In Interrogation Room 3 at Major Crimes, Jim and Blair sat opposite the brunette who was looking at them with curious green eyes. 

"On the 12th February you went to Lacy Grey's Department Store and bought a bottle of Marc Jacobs for Men by Marc Jacobs?." Jim stated.

"That's right," Jayne replied looked at Jim.

"What did you do with the aftershave?"

"I gave it to my boyfriend for Valentine's Day. Is that a crime or something?" she asked not a little sarcastically.

"What's your boyfriend's name?" Blair asked.

"Andrew Fielding." Blair wrote the name down in his notebook. "Where does he live and work?" Blair asked looking up from his notebook.

"Why are you going to check that I gave him the bottle?"

"That's exactly what we are going to do?" Jim replied emphatically.

Jayne was stunned. "That's ridiculous!"

"Is it?" Jim replied.

"Yes. Why do you need to know that I bought and gave a bottle of aftershave to my boyfriend? I don't understand. Haven't you got better things to do with your time, detectives?"

"I received a bottle of the same aftershave this morning," Jim replied.

"Bully for you. But what has that to do with me?"

"I've also been receiving other things, unwanted things, which I want to stop."

"What's that got to do with me?" she asked puzzled, but then a thought crossed her mind. "You think I sent you the aftershave and the other gifts." Blair and Jim just stared at her. "Detective, you might be handsome, and I know there are a lot of women here who would like to go with you, but I'm not one of them. Do you know how much a bottle of Marc Jacobs costs?"

"Actually I do," Jim replied showing Jayne a copy of her credit card receipt.

Jayne was beginning to think how serious this was if they had gone to the trouble of getting her credit card receipt. 

"Then you know you would only give it to someone you really liked or was special. And not to someone you didn't know."

"People never fail to astonish us as to what lengths they will go to to do certain things," Blair replied.

"Well Andrew, that's my boyfriend, will soon confirm that I gave him the aftershave and then you will both look ridiculous. He lives at 56 Montgomery Rise in Forrest Green. He works here actually, he's a janitor."

Jim wasn't sure if Jayne was their suspect. It fit into place that she knew Jim through working in the same building but she didn't seem to be lying. They would talk to the boyfriend to back up her story or not. She didn't look liked a crazed stalker but who knew. It looked like Jim's stalker could have bought it from a shop they hadn't tried, she could even have bought it off the internet and they had no hope of tracing a transaction on there. 

It was looking increasingly likely that Jim would have to wait for his stalker to make her next move.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Jim and Blair tracked down Andrew Fielding to the fifth floor of the PD building. He was doing his job, emptying bins and cleaning up.

"Andrew Fielding?" Blair asked.

"Yeah, I'm Andrew Fielding," the janitor replied.

"Detectives Sandburg and Ellison," Blair began.

"What's this about?" the janitor asked not a little annoyed.

"Jayne Billinton, do you know her?"

"Yeah, she's my girlfriend. Sweetest lay I ever had," he replied unctuously. "Is she in some sort of trouble?"

"Did she give you a bottle of Marc Jacobs cologne for Valentine's Day?" Blair enquired.

"No, wish she had though, make me smell real nice for her I bet. Not that I need it if you know what I mean, she's always ready for me."

"Thank you," Blair replied receiving more information than he needed or required. Jim and Blair walked away from the man.

"It looks like Jayne's our stalker after all," Jim said as they walked to the stairs to return to their floor.

"No wonder she's stalking you with a loser like that for a boyfriend," Blair replied

"Takes all sorts, I guess," Jim replied.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

"You're lying," Jim said bluntly to the indignant woman, they were back in the interrogation room with Jayne Billinton. "Tell us the truth. We spoke to Fielding and he said you didn't give him the aftershave."

"What!" Jayne replied incredulous. "What's his game? This is some sort of windup isn't it?"

"I don't thinking stalking can be constituted as a windup," Jim added.

"Stalking, what are you talking about?"

"I'm taking about stalking of a Police officer. It stops here and now! I don't want your gifts and I don't want your attention. Comprende?"

"No, I don't comprende. I haven't done anything wrong!" she shouted. "But I may commit murder when I get my hands on that bloody boyfriend of mine. Now charge me with something or let me go."

Jim and Blair looked at one another. 

The detectives could do nothing but let her go. 

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Andrew let himself into Jayne's apartment. He found her in the lounge sat on her sofa, her arms crossed over her chest, a scowl on her face.

"Why did you lie to the Police?" she immediately asked crossly.

"What are you talking about?" he asked, annoyed by her attitude.

"Those detectives Ellison and Sandburg they asked me about a bottle of aftershave I bought. I told them I gave it to you but they told me you denied it."

"They're lying."

"They're the Police why would they lie over a bottle of aftershave? You haven't worn it yet, I know what it smells like."

"It's too expensive to wear every day. I tell you what I'll go home now and shower and put it on for you."

"That's alright, I'm just being silly. It was just so strange the way they kept asking me about the aftershave. I don't understand why they would even bother tracing that I'd bought it."

But Andrew Fielding did. 

"Let's have a nice meal and then go to bed. I'll make you scream for me."

Jayne smiled her mood lifting; Andrew always did know the right things to say. Jayne got up and moved to the kitchen to prepare their evening meal. 

Andrew touched himself through the material of his trousers. He might be making love to Jayne but his mind would be on someone else. He would be thinking it was a certain detective's naked body he was making love to. Jim Ellison was the object of his desire and he planned to show him just how much he meant to him and soon.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Next day and Jim and Blair were back in the Bullpen working on their cases. Jim got up and headed to Simon's office. Whilst he was in there a janitor wandered around the Bullpen emptying bins. Blair didn't notice as he slipped something into his partner's coffee. Then the janitor was gone.

Jim returned to his desk and tapped a few buttons on his computer's keyboard and then picked up and continued to drink his coffee. It was lukewarm but it was still wet and assuaged his thirst. After a few minutes he began to feel a little nauseous. 

"Back in a minute, Chief," Jim said as he moved towards the Bullpen's door.

"Sure, man," Blair replied not looking up from the document he had open on his screen. Officially he was working on the Bryant Parks and Lisa Adams cases but part of his mind was on Jim's Stalker and who she could possibly be and what her next move might be.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

In the men's room Jim ran some cold water and splashed his face. His stomach was churning and he hadn't felt this bad for a long time. Absently he wondered if Sandburg had finally poisoned him with his cooking. "Here try this, Jim, you'll love it," he would enthuse as he offered Jim something Jim couldn't even categorise as a food group. At the moment even the merest thought of food made his stomach churn. 

"Are you alright?" a heavily accented male voice suddenly asked from behind the detective. Jim was startled to see a Mexican janitor standing behind him. He hadn't heard him come in, but then he realised his senses were beginning to spike as well. Actually Jim realised he was beginning to find it difficult to even think.

"Fine," Jim replied stubbornly as he promptly collapsed.

"I've got you," the janitor replied his accent vanishing, as he caught Jim deftly and manoeuvred him to his maintenance cart, where he picked the detective up and placed him inside and then covered him over with towels out of sight. 

Calmly the Mexican janitor slowly left the Men's room removing the 'Cleaning in progress' sign he had left on his way in, so no one else would come into the toilet and disturb them. Calmly the janitor walked away so as not to draw attention to himself. He called the elevator and got into the car as it promptly arrived. He allowed himself a brief smile as the doors closed. Life was going on in Major Crimes oblivious to the fact that one of their own had just been spirited away under their noses.

/Detectives, what a joke/ the janitor thought as the car began to descend. He could probably do as well as any of them he mused as he realised he now had the object of his desire. He wanted to touch him but restrained himself; he didn't want to draw any attention to himself. There would be plenty of time for that later. Now came the riskiest part of the plan, getting Ellison into his car but he knew he would do it successfully. He was close; nothing was going to stand in his way now.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Blair turned to speak to Jim but the detective wasn't at his desk, then Blair realised Jim had gone out. Blair had seen him head towards the men's room, but he realised that was now ages ago. He'd been so absorbed in what he was doing he had lost track of time. Blair got up and walked to the men's room and found it empty. Jim didn't say he was going anywhere else. Blair walked back to the Bullpen and rang his partner's cell phone but he immediately heard the ringing tone, the phone was on Jim's desk buried under files. Concerned but not alarmed yet, Blair moved to Simon's office and knocked.

"Captain, got a minute?"

"Sure, Sandburg, what can I help you with?" the black captain said but didn't lift his head up from the paperwork he was reading through.

"It's Jim I don't know where he is."

Simon automatically looked through the glass window of his office to Ellison's empty desk. 

"He went to the men's room about fifteen to twenty minutes ago but didn't come back," the detective explained.

"Maybe he went to records or something," Simon offered.

"He would have said something. Simon, I have a bad feeling about this."

"What's your gut telling you?"

Blair thought about that for a moment. "That Jim's in trouble."

"That's good enough for me, Detective. A cop always listens to his gut."

Simon made some phone calls and appropriated the CCTV footage of the area outside of Major Crimes. Simon and Blair saw Jim go into the men's room at two minutes past three. A minute later a Mexican janitor pushing a cleaning cart entered leaving a 'Cleaning in Progress' sign outside. Then a few minutes later the Mexican janitor exited the men's room with his janitor's cart. Blair was following the movement of the cart. The man looked calm but he glanced about continually as he moved calmly away and out of shot. 

They watched the footage a bit longer but Jim didn't re-emerge from the bathroom.

"Jim's in that janitor's cart," Blair said with conviction.

"Why would a Mexican janitor kidnap a detective in the middle of a Police station?"

"Because he's a stalker," Blair offered.

"A stalker? What stalker! Detective, I think you'd better start from the beginning and tell me everything," Simon replied emphatically. 

Blair took a deep breath before he began. "Some woman's been sending Jim all sorts of gifts both here and at the loft. It all started on Valentine's Day," Blair began. 

Blair told Simon about the aftershave and how they had tracked a purchase to someone from Narcotics whose boyfriend didn't corroborate the story.

"Why didn't either of you tell me about this?" Simon demanded.

"I guess I took it as a bit of a joke at first, Captain. It just seemed harmless with flowers and chocolates but it started to get sinister when I received an e-mail warning me off Jim. It just escalated so fast."

"Okay, Blair. Don't worry we'll find Jim. He's been in worse scrapes than this before."

Strangely Blair was reassured by this. The Sentinel had been in some dire situations and had managed to come out of it relatively unscathed. Blair just hoped his friend could do the same again now. Blair waited patiently as Simon made a phone call to personnel who told him they had no Mexican janitors on staff.

"Do you think Jayne Billinton is the stalker?"

"I don't know," Blair admitted. "No, I don't think so. Jim didn't seem to think she was lying when he questioned her."

"The stalker must have an accomplice, that was definitely a man who went in and out of the men's room," Simon added thinking out load.

"We have to find, Jim," Blair said emphatically but he had to admit to himself that he wasn't sure he knew where to start.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Jim woke up reluctantly. His head was pounding and he opened his eyes grudgingly. It was dark all around him, but he knew he wasn't wearing a blindfold or a hood, as he couldn't feel any material around his face. It was all confusing and he wasn't sure where he was or how he had gotten here. 

As his eyes adjusted to the dark, his Sentinel eyesight automatically compensated for the darkness. Then he could discern a faint strip of light, probably around a door. Jim then realised he was handcuffed. He was lying on something smooth, his hands and feet were all handcuffed; he could feel the metal of the handcuffs jangle as he tested them. 

Jim also realised he was stark naked.

It was coming back to him now. He could kick himself for not tasting something off with his coffee. Getting sloppy he chided himself. The coffee was the only thing he had ingested since lunch. Sandburg had made the coffee but Jim knew his partner hadn't slipped him a mickey. But who had?

Then the memories of the events leading up to his kidnap swirled round his clearing mind: The Mexican janitor who had spoken to him in the men's room. Jim had been astonished, he had smelt his arousal in the air; the man was horny for him. Just as he passed out he saw the lust in the man's blue eyes. Blue eyes! Mexican's didn't have blue eyes. Jim realised then, with a sickening feeling that he had come face to face with his stalker. His male stalker.

Jim tried the handcuffs, they were tight and he couldn’t slide his hands out of the cuffs. Even though it was gloomy where he was, Jim could clearly see round him. He was lying on a bench in a room. The walls were brick and there were numerous tools on the wall and there were benches on either side. Parts of a car littered the work bench of what type of car the Sentinel wasn't sure. It was a garage or workshop of some description. The Sentinel could also smell salt in the air, so they were near the ocean.

There was no easy way out. Jim listened, extending his hearing beyond the room, in case someone was nearby so he could call for help. He heard the occasional seagull but other than that it was eerily quiet.

Sometime later he heard an engine, a car getting closer. The kidnapper returning? The car stopped outside and Jim heard the ignition turn off and then footsteps approaching. He heard keys jingling and then the door opened. A shadowy figure was surrounded by bright light and then they stepped into the room and flipped a light switch. The room was flooded with light. After the gloomy interior Jim had to close his eyes from the brightness, until they adjusted again.

Jim recognised Andrew Fielding as his kidnapper. He could never forget those blue eyes.

"Good, you're awake," the man said. "I've got some food and water here."

"I don't want your food or water. I do need you to let me go!"

"Sorry, Detective," Andrew Fielding replied. "I can't let you go. You know who I am now."

"What do you want of me?"

"All in good time," the kidnapper replied.

"I need to pee," Jim said hoping the man would release his hands. He had a few moves he could try of his own.

Fielding rummaged on the bench until he found a bottle.

"You don't expect me to pee in that do you?" Jim asked indignantly.

"Take it or leave it. We're all guys here after all. You haven't got anything I haven't seen before."

Jim felt totally embarrassed when the man touched his penis and guided it to the lip of the bottle. The touch was surprisingly gentle. Mortified but resigned to the inevitable Jim relieved himself.

Fielding took the bottle away and Jim watched the man wondering what he wanted from him. He hadn't forgotten the arousal he had smelled in the men's room, when he had been disguised as a Mexican janitor. 

Jim's only hope was to escape as he watched and waited for a chance.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Blair sat at his desk all too aware of the empty chair beside him. He read through everything they had so far on the stalker case. Blair might not have been a cop as long as his partner had, but his cop's instinct was telling him that it was all connecting to Jayne Billinton and Andrew Fielding. The Mexican janitor was the same build as Fielding. Blair was convinced that under the disguise it was Andrew Fielding. Blair phoned Cleaning Services but Andrew Fielding hadn't turned up for work that day. Jayne Billinton was in Narcotics as normal. Blair tried to phone Fielding at home but there was no answer, he also drove to his home but he wasn't there. Blair needed a warrant to search the premises. Blair could have used Jim's Sentinel senses at that moment to tell if there were any heartbeats in the house. Fielding's car wasn't anywhere in the vicinity of his first floor flat. So Blair went back to the station. 

Blair phoned Jayne Billinton and asked her to come down to Major Crimes. Jayne was in Major Crimes within five minutes. Blair took her to the break room so she would be at ease and made her coffee.

"Do you know where Andrew Fielding is?" Blair asked.

"Don't know and I don't care. I've finished with him," Jayne replied angrily.

"Why?" Blair asked as he took a sip of his coffee, inside he was bubbling with excitement. He knew he was on the right track. 

"He couldn’t produce the aftershave I bought him for Valentine's Day. He said he would wear it the next time I saw him. That aftershave cost me an arm and a leg, it was special. So I went to his flat and confronted him about it. He couldn't show me it. I think he gave it to Detective Ellison."

"I'm sorry," Blair replied sympathetically as he noticed her blinking back a few tears. She seemed so sincere that Blair's gut was telling him that Andrew Fielding was acting on his own. "But I think Andrew Fielding has been stalking Detective Ellison and has now kidnapped him."

Jayne gasped. "Oh no, I never thought that he could be capable of anything like that."

"Jayne, I want you to think carefully now. Do you know of anywhere that Fielding might take Jim? Somewhere quiet and secluded where he wouldn't be disturbed."

Jayne's brow furrowed in concentration. "I don't know," Blair's heart sank. Jayne thought about it for a few minutes.

"Wait!" she suddenly said as inspiration struck. "He has a lock-up garage where he keeps an old Cobra car of his father's. He keeps saying he's going to renovate it and sell it but he hasn't done much work on it."

"Do you know where this garage is?"

"It's on Victory at the back of some shops."

"Thank you, Jayne," Blair said as he got up to check out the garage.

"Wait," Jayne added before Blair could leave. "There's something else you should know. You say that Andy's been stalking Detective Ellison." Blair nodded. "Do you think he wants to you know, have, well does he want to," she added looking embarrassed and awkward. 

"Have sex with Jim," Blair said bluntly and Jayne nodded. "Yes I think he does. The gifts and letters he's been leaving my partner have been of a sexual nature."

"Then you should know that Andy's impotent. I've been seeing him for over six months now. I've always been sympathetic towards him, understood when we tried to have sex, but never once did he ever manage to get it up."

"He never managed an erection?" Blair asked for clarification.

"That's right."

"Thank you, Jayne."

Blair knew the stakes had just been raised. His psychology minor was telling him that Fielding was a very frustrated man. Blair was thinking that because he couldn't get an erection with his girlfriend, that he was hoping that turning his affections to a man he could help him in that department. 

Blair knew he had to find his partner and find him fast. Blair saw Simon in his office and filled him in quickly with the new evidence he had found. Then he was racing to the lock-up garage as fast as the Volvo allowed him to.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Andrew was staring intently at Jim. Jim was thinking about his abductor, trying to work him out. 

"You do realise you've kidnapped a Police officer," Jim stated matter of factly.

"Are you hungry?" Andrew replied, totally ignoring Jim's statement.

"No," Jim said firmly.

"You should eat to keep your strength up," Andrew replied cheerfully.

"Fuck the food! What do you want with me?"

"I've been fantasising about you for months. What it would be like to have sex with you," Andrew said looking Jim up and down, his eyes staring for a long time at his genitals. 

"I thought you had a girlfriend," Jim said trying to reflect Andrew's stare from his private area; it was making him feel very uncomfortable. "She did buy you a very expensive bottle of aftershave after all."

"She's a nice girl," Andrew said with a tinge of regret. "But haven't you noticed when we have sex with girls you have to hold back."

"I hadn't noticed."

"They're so fragile. If you want to really go for it, you'd split them in two."

"There are some women built like linebackers out there. Why didn't you try your whiles on them?"

"They're still too delicate under all that masculinity. No, I came to realise that only a man having sex with another man can really feel what it's all about."

"I hate to tell you, bud, but I don't fancy you and I certainly don't want to have sex with you." Jim said fervently.

"That's okay, I wasn't asking. I'm quite willing to take what I need."

"That's called rape."

"A technicality. You'll enjoy it by the time I've finished with you."

"I doubt that very much. I hate to burst your bubble but I prefer women, as delicate as they are."

"I'll change your mind," Andrew replied his eyes wandering to Jim's genitals again.

Andrew walked over to the bench and sat on the edge. His hand moved to Jim's cock which was lax and flaccid. Andrew began to stroke the organ. The Sentinel was willing it not to respond to Andrew's ministrations, but to his disgust his penis began to fill and stand to attention.

"There's still time for you to change your mind," Jim said as he realised he was actually going to be raped.

Jim cast his senses out, hoping Blair and the cavalry was coming to his rescue. There was no one nearby. Desperately he pulled on the handcuffs but they wouldn't give. 

Andrew was pumping his cock even harder now, wonderment on his face as he watched Jim for the signs of pleasure he was giving him. Jim stiffened as he felt his completion was close. How could he be feeling this way when it was making him feel sick to his stomach? His balls were tightening now and he knew that release was imminent. 

Jim stifled a cry as he came, spilling himself all over Fielding's hand. Jim saw the man's eyes were huge, his face ecstatic as he watched Jim, looking first at Jim's face and then his engorged cock. The Sentinel was trying to get his breathing back under control.

"See, I told you you'd enjoy it," Fielding said with glee. "Now I've got something to give you that you're going to enjoy. You're going to work up an appetite."

Fielding stood and wiped Jim's semen off his hands on a towel from the nearby workbench. Then he began to remove his trousers, slowly, making sure Jim was watching him. His underwear was next. Fielding stood naked before Jim trying to impress him. His penis wasn't long but it was thick before arousal. Once it was erect it was going to hurt. Jim knew exactly where Fielding wanted to put that cock, he didn't need to be a Sentinel to see the lust in the man's eyes.

"Have you got a condom, lube?" Jim asked.

"See, I knew you'd get into this," Fielding replied taking Jim's comments for compliance, but Jim was thinking that if this was going to happen he wanted to be safe and not be torn by his kidnapper's thick cock. "Of course, I always practice safe sex."

From a drawer in the workbench Fielding brought out a gun. Jim flinched.

"Don't worry; I'm not going to use this on you, unless you give me provocation."

Fielding moved closer to the bench, he undid one of the handcuffs. He stepped back and tossed Jim the keys which he deftly caught.

"Bend over the edge of the bench and redo the handcuffs up."

Jim did as he was told unlocking the handcuffs on his other hand and then undid his feet. He scooted off the bench and then moving onto his front, redoing the handcuffs round his ankles to the legs of the bench and then to the metal eyelets all around the edge of top of the bench. Fielding checked them making sure they were tight. Jim looked over his shoulder and watched out of the corner of his eye as Fielding replaced the gun in a drawer and then picked up a box and then a tube. Jim reasoned it was protection. Jim saw Fielding open a small foil packet and cover his lax penis with a condom. Then he squirted a generous amount of lube into his hand and covered the condom with it. Fielding shivered slightly at the anticipation of what was to come. 

Fielding moved up and then positioned himself behind his captive, rubbing his cock the entire time. Jim braced himself for what was going to happen. Fielding's cock rubbed against the cleft of his butt cheeks, some of the lube transferring to Jim's cheeks and feeling cold on his skin.

"Can you feel that," Fielding asked in a breathy voice, trying to sound sexy and appealing. 

Jim was desperately dialling down his sense of touch; he didn't want to feel any of Fielding's attention to his private area.

Jim felt the tip of Fielding's cock at his entrance; he braced himself but didn't feel any penetration. Had he dialled his sense of touch down too much? Then he realised Fielding was grunting with effort as he tried to get his cock inside Jim. Jim dialled up his senses a little and realised that Fielding's cock was still soft, he hadn't been able to get an erection going. 

Without a word Fielding got off the bench and redressed. Then he left the garage without a word. Jim breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't been penetrated, only forced to come, but now he was alone with no idea when Fielding would be back and when he did come back what he would do next. The guy had to be embarrassed by his lack of performance. Jim was the guy he idolised about having sex with but without being able to perform Jim wondered just what his worth was now to his kidnapper.

Jim cast his senses out and heard the car drive down the street. Jim tried the handcuffs but they were too tight. He could see the keys tantalisingly out of reach on the bench. Unlike their situation on the oil rig there was no oil in sight. Jim could still feel some lube between the cleft of his butt cheeks but he couldn't reach it. Looks like he had to wait it out for the cavalry.

"Like anytime now, Chief," Jim said to the empty dark room.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Andrew Fielding drove until he came to a secluded car park that was a lookout for the picturesque Cascade mountains. He turned off the ignition and sat in silence unmoving. He was alone and didn't notice the natural panorama in front of him.

He was angry, livid with rage and embarrassment. He was sure it would be different with Ellison; sex would be good, it would be right. But now he felt humiliated. His cheeks burned with shame as he thought back to what had happened. 

Perhaps Ellison had been the wrong one, maybe he should have gone after his partner instead. What should he do about Ellison? Try again? Leave him? Kill him? What about drugs? What about Viagra or something to help his equipment perform? Run? Go after the cop's partner? So many incoherent thoughts and ideas buzzed round Fielding's head.

Fielding suddenly realised he'd kidnapped a cop. He looked round him almost expecting a cop in a patrol car to be passing and spot him for what he had done. 

Fielding groaned. What a mess. But he had to decide on a course of action and soon. 

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Blair raced to the address that Jayne Billinton had given him. He found it down a short driveway. Twelve garages, six on either side. Blair saw a car parked outside and called in the registration. It was registered to Andrew Fielding. Blair knew Jim was here as well. 

Blair crept up quietly to the door; he could hear a muffled voice inside. Drawing his sidearm without hesitation, the detective offered a silent prayer as he did every time that he drew his weapon that he wouldn't have to use it. Gently he pulled the door's handle, a Yale type lock was locked from inside. There was no time for subtlety, Blair stepped back and kicked the door in. He rushed into the room trying to take in everything at once as he had been trained at the Academy.

Blair hesitated for a moment. He could see Jim handcuffed and lying on top of a bench, he looked drugged and was naked. The room was full of lit candles. Blair had a flashback for a moment, David Lash had him tied to that horrible black chair, he was drugged and trying to hold it together, when Jim burst in but fell down the stairs. Now it was Blair's turn to rescue his partner.

Blam. Blam.

Two shots rang out in rapid succession. Blair heard them and then felt them as they slammed into his body. He flew backwards slamming into the metal part of the door behind him. Blair's head impacted with the metal and he was unconscious before he hit the floor.

Jim was struggling with his bonds, trying to shout to his partner, but no sounds came out of his mouth. His mouth felt like it was full of cotton wool and his tongue felt too big for his mouth. He craned his hearing to listen for his partner's heartbeat, he couldn't hear it. Couldn't hear it! Jim felt fear and dread overwhelming him. An officer was down. His partner was down. Jim stared at his partner willing him to move. Blair remained motionless. Jim struggled with his bonds, but his body felt like rubber. It was the drugs affecting his sense. Blair was alright, he told himself over and over.

Fielding moved to Blair and picked up the detective's gun out of his limp hand. Then he turned his attention back to Jim.

"I don't know how your cop partner, correction dead cop partner, found us but I have a pretty good idea. A little birdie has been singing and telling tales on me. I bet she couldn't wait to tell them I couldn't get it up for her. Dirty bitch, she'll be sorry," he ranted and muttered to himself. He made a mental note to himself to make a visit to his girlfriend after he was finished with the cop.

"He had designs on you too," Fielding told Jim meaning Blair. "I saw the way he was touching you the other day."

Jim knew then the man was totally crazy. He and Blair have a totally platonic relationship. They touched and hugged each other in a purely innocent way: A brotherly hug, a sympathetic touch to the shoulder, a slap on the arm in camaraderie. 

"Freeze, Cascade PD!" Blair's voice suddenly said authoritatively behind Fielding. Jim could hear the pain in Blair's voice, but to his credit he held it steady. Jim would have cheered his partner if he could have. 

Fielding turned and saw that the cop was holding another smaller gun on him.

"On the ground now!!" Blair shouted.

Fielding was disgusted with himself; he should have checked the cop once he had shot him; to make sure the fucker was dead. The cop looked pissed, meaner than a cornered rattlesnake. Fielding was thinking that getting shot would do that to a person. It was then that Fielding realised yet another error, he had shot the cop in the chest. Of course the cop would have a bullet proof vest on. It really was turning into a shitty day but it wasn't over yet.

Fielding complied and lay down on the concrete floor. Cautiously Blair continued to cover the kidnapper with the back-up gun he kept in an ankle holster like his partner did. Blair moved forward eager to secure the prisoner and then go help his partner. Fielding watched Blair the whole way. 

"You okay, partner?" Blair asked Jim and the Sentinel nodded. He turned his full attention back to his prisoner. "You have the right to remain silent," Blair began as he prepared to cuff his prisoner. Then Blair felt a sharp pain in his shin as Fielding lashed out at him. Blair overbalanced and Fielding was on him. The pair struggle for Blair's gun, which fell out of Blair's hands and was kicked away in the struggle. 

Blair grappled with Fielding. The detective was shorter and slighter than his opponent but he didn't panic, he knew how to handle himself. He had been a good study at the Police Academy and automatically called on his training as any good cop would. Jim watched helplessly, continually struggling to get out of the bonds.

Jim watched helplessly as Blair and Fielding crashed out of the door into the street beyond. Jim tried to follow the sounds of the struggle with his senses, but the drug had his senses going haywire. He couldn't focus on anything. Finally he dialled down all his senses and didn't try to use them, he just concentrated his normal hearing and he caught sounds of a scuffle outside. Then five gunshots rang out and then there was nothing but silence. 

Jim watched the doorway. Then a grinning Fielding stepped through looking at Jim and smiling broadly. Jim's heart hammered in fear for his partner. Fielding took a step forward; then blood started to drip down his chin from his mouth. He fell to his knees and dropped dead onto the floor.

Jim looked up at the door just as his dishevelled partner staggered in. There was blood on Blair's face from a cut on his cheek. Blair looked exhausted and battered but he was still ambulatory, so Jim took that as a good sign. The sound of sirens permeated the garage; they were distant but getting closer.

"The cavalry I presume," Blair muttered as he staggered to the bench. "I rang for backup. Better late than never. You okay, partner?" Blair couldn't help but notice Jim's nakedness. He looked round for the Sentinel's clothes but couldn’t see them.

"Yeah, I will be as soon as I get out of here," Jim mumbled.

Blair unlocked the handcuffs and Jim grimaced as the blood returned to his arms and hands.

Jim caught Blair glance at the dead body on the concrete floor. Jim knew what Blair was thinking. Fielding was his first kill as a cop. Blair had pulled his weapon, even fired it on duty; but he had never shot anyone dead with it. Jim was thinking that he was thankful that his partner had taken his advice on wearing a second back-up piece whilst on duty.

"You okay, partner?" Jim asked.

"Yeah," Blair replied straight away. And he was. It was all about perspectives. He knew what he was getting into when he had accepted the badge. A bit of meditation and he had put it all in perspective. To save Jim, or a fellow officer's life, or a civilian in danger; he found that it was easy to rationalise and become acceptable, the same way all cops put it all in perspective. He found it was easy to rationalise it once he had started to think and live like a cop. He had accepted the badge, he was a cop and he was duty bound to use deadly force when the need arose. 

Blair removed his jacket and helped his partner into it. Then he helped his partner off the bench and to stand, though Jim was a bit wobbly to begin with. Then Blair saw a towel and wrapped it round Jim's lower half. 

"Thanks, Chief," glad that his modesty had been addressed before the emergency services arrived. 

"No worries, partner," Blair replied.

"Bastard gave me something," Jim slurred.

"Did he…did he hurt you?" Blair asked casually not wanting to make a big deal out of asking such a powerful question.

"You mean did he rape me?" Blair nodded, almost afraid to hear the answer. "Tried to but all he did was jerk me off, he couldn't perform. Lucky for me."

"That's what Jayne said, that he was impotent."

"That how you knew where I was?" Jim enquired.

"Yeah, Jayne said that Fielding had a lock-up garage. I thought it was a good place to start."

"Not bad, detective," Jim grinned down at his partner.

"Partner, that almost sounded like a compliment," Blair replied.

"Almost was," Jim retorted still grinning.

Then the scene was awash with police and ambulance vehicles arriving. The two policemen waited arm in arm for the emergency responders to enter and secure the room.

JB~JB~JB~JB~JB

Two days later and Jim and Blair were back at work none the worse for their ordeal, though Blair was sporting some spectacular bruising on his front from the impact of the bullets with the Kevlar vest. Physically Jim was fine, the drug that Fielding had given him was short lived and had soon left his system. Mentally Jim had some issues to resolve with the help of the department's counsellor but he was working through them. Jim still had a few flashbacks to his kidnapper's hands on his body, touching his most private areas, which were unpleasant but he was facing the feelings head on.

The detectives still had some cases outstanding, the prevalent ones being the deaths of the parachutist and the pregnant woman. They could find no evidence in the death of Bryant Parks the twenty-six year old parachutist, other than it being a tragic suicide. Blair had done research into the very idea of committing suicide by parachuting and found it had happened before on several occasions. Bryant Parks loved parachuting and it seemed it had been his chosen way to kill himself. The case of Lisa Adams was very much active and they knew they would catch her killer, even if it took them years. Her death had been so horrific, neither Blair nor Jim would be able to rest until it was solved. Plus there was Lisa's stolen baby; they owed it to Lisa's mother to recover her granddaughter. Linda Adams had told them that her daughter knew she was expecting a girl. 

Blair was rereading his notes on Lisa Adams' murder, looking for something, anything that would break the case. He didn't hear Jim come up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. Blair flinched.

"Sorry," Jim said contritely as he caused Blair pain from his bruises.

"It's okay, man," Blair replied stoically. 

"Let's blow this joint and get some lunch."

"Sounds good," Blair replied. "I've got some ideas to bounce off you regarding the Lisa Adams murder."

"I always think better on a full stomach," Jim replied as he grabbed his jacket and followed his partner to the elevator.

When they reached the deli and were sat with their respective sandwiches Jim became thoughtful for a moment.

"Penny for them?" Blair asked suddenly.

"What's that, Chief?" Jim asked confused.

"Your thoughts, you looked deep in thought."

"I was just thinking back to when Fielding had me."

"Is this something the therapist asked you to do?"

"No, it's just my mind goes over it every now and again."

"I know what you mean," Blair replied trying to suppress an icy shudder that wanted to travel down his spine.

"It just makes me think back to what is it, five years ago now? When that nut job Lash had you tied to that chair."

"Only this time the roles were reversed, I ended up saving you."

"Yeah you did, guess that makes you my blessed protector this time."

"You know, I'll watch your back, or your front, you were the one naked and tied to a bench after all," Blair added with a small smile.

"Don't remind me," Jim replied solemnly still feeling a trifle embarrassed, even though the situation was out of his control, that he'd been found naked and drugged by his partner.

"You're all right that's the main thing," Blair responded seriously, glad for that.

"So, what did you want to talk about regarding the Lisa Adams case?" Jim asked pushing thoughts aside of the stalker.

"Well I was thinking…" and Blair began to talk about his thoughts on the case. "The internet is involved in this. Lisa spent large periods of time both on Facebook and Myspace..."

Jim didn't interrupt his partner as he went into lecture mode and began to talk through his observations on the case.

They were back in business and Lisa Adams' killer had better watch out, as had the entire criminal element in Cascade, as Detectives Ellison and Sandburg were back on the case.

The End.

May 2015


End file.
